Great book, really interesting especially if you are into science and music. This ties together two of my favorite subjects so I found this really interesting. It talks about why people like music. It also researchs how far back music really goes. The effects of music on the brain is the major topic in this book. Interesting book, but only if you already know a little bit about anatomy and physiology and music.

What is your brain doing while you're listening to or making music? Why do you like or dislike a particular piece of music? Lots of questions are addressed, some more satisfactorily than others - inevitably some answers have to be 'we don't know yet'. But this book does give a great insight into what is going on and how much that we like is learned from our culture.
Well worth reading if you're interested in what music does to you. ( )

This Is Your Brain on Music
Daniel J Levitan
Aug 23, 2009 9:39 PM

Despite the unfortunately cute title, this was actually a sophisticated book, partly music theory, history of rock and roll, and psychophysiology. Levitan is a recording engineer and rock musician turned psychologist, who is interested in the activation of the brain with music. He comments on the processes of remembering a melody even in a different pitch, on discriminating rhythm and memorizing music. He suggests evolutionary reasons for music persistence in humans. The writing is very clear and engaging. One interesting illusion formed by music he mentions is the quintana; a fifth female voice that seems to emerge from four males singing Sicilian church music. ( )

A fairly readable overview of the basics of music and what we know about the brain’s response to music. It’s best at making the points that (1) we are all experts at listening to music, even if the formal vocabulary escapes us, and (2) the modern separation of music from movement has distracted us from the deep connection between the two—music comes from the body as well as the brain. Near the end he gallops pretty fast through the supposed evolutionary benefits of music, though this evo-psych stuff always has a just-so flavor for me so that’s always going to be the part I think makes the least sense. (For example, did you know that you can explain the role of music in human evolution solely in terms of how it helped prehistoric men win prehistoric women’s affections, demonstrating males’ ability to perform the complex motions required to hunt successfully and their ability to cooperate with others? This is totally why women can’t sing or play instruments, and why some kinds of music are nonetheless gendered female in modern culture! Is that what people mean when they say “trufax”? To be fair, Levitin is only responsible for the first sentence of this aside, but that first sentence is—without the awareness that some musical bodies are getting left out of the story except as choosers—not an unfair summary of his coverage of the topic.) ( )

Levitin is a recording engineer turned scientist. In this book, he takes a comprehensive look at the science of music, from it's component level (pitch, beat, timbre, tone, etc.) to the neuroscience behind what is happening when we listen and play music (and how those with disorders such as Williams Syndrome and Autism show differing results) to the evolutionary benefits leading it's development in the human species.

Of these three major divisions in the book, I enjoyed the first part (musical definition) because of his anecdotal experience as a recording engineer. Levitin brings in samples from all music genres, from classical to the Beatles to the Ramones. The middle if the book discussed which parts of the brain are responsible for various elements of listening to and playing music. While some of this caused my eyes to glaze over, some of the revelations were interesting, particularly his assertion that we all become "expert listeners" to music by age 6, but developing musicianship skills can take a fair bit longer. He also discusses the 10,000-hour theory (that it takes 10,000 hours of doing a thing to become good enough to achieve greatness), suggesting that it more or less follows suit in music as in other artistic forms. Early on, Levitin discusses an episode from a visit to an African tribe, where the idea of passively listening to music was unheard of (everyone sings, everyone dances, everyone at least bangs a drum). Music was completely participatory, and they couldn't fathom it being any other way. At the end of the book, Levitin returns to this theme in postulating a theory on how music has evolutionary importance in the rise of the species, refuting claims by Steven Pinker that music was a useless parasite that developed on the back of language. Levitin trots out archeological evidence suggesting that music actually preceded spoken language by a fair bit, and then returns to the tribal example, claiming that such participatory music would be a display of virility. He then transposes the notion to modern times, where popular [male] musicians attract huge followings of the opposite sex willing to sleep with them...but these same women, by and large, are not interested in musicians for long-term relationships. This suggests that the genetic makeup embodied in a popular musician is a stronger attractant than more pragmatic considerations such as life-long stability. At some point in time, this must have been one and the same...as tribal dances are feats of endurance lasting hours, a primeval musician may have been showing his stamina that translated into prowess at the hunt, when a wounded animal might have been chased for sometime before it expired.

All in all, I think Levitin made a good case for the evolutionary benefits of music. It's been about 20 years since I've read Pinker's The Language Instinct, and I wonder if current evidence would have him reconsider his harsh stance. ( )

Great book!

http://flyingsinger.blogspot.com/2009...

Interesting, but not as much on the creative process as I had hoped. ( )

Daniel J. Levitin’s This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession is a fascinating study about what happens in the brain when we listen to music. Levitin, a neuroscientist and former session musician and producer, has crafted an excellent study that both scientists and lay readers whose grasp of science is somewhat limited will find informative.
Perhaps best of all, Levitin’s book doesn’t ruin the enjoyment of listening to music.

Levitin primarily takes a thematic approach in examining how the brain functions when listening to music. Although the first chapter, which explains the basics of music like pitch, timbre, meter, may be sow-going for the musically-challenged, the remaining chapters are enlightening. With topics including how the brain remembers and recalls music, why music can impact our moods, and why musical preferences can vary from person to person, Levitin explains the processes occurring in the brain without overwhelming the reader with overly-technical and academically-dry details.

Perhaps the most interesting chapter is the final one, which makes a case for the evolutionary origins of music, arguing against scientists who believe music was a happy accident or an unplanned byproduct of language development. Levitin shows how music may have played a role in human survival and evolution, including aiding in cognitive development, serving as a key factor in promoting early human interactions, and giving musical males an extra advantage in the grand reproductive race.

Written for non-experts who might not know the difference between a hippocampus and a hippopotamus, This Is Your Brain On Music successfully manages to explain how we listen to music without reducing music to a series of neurons and brain waves. Levitin writes in an intelligent but not overbearing or condescending tone; his passion for music is apparent throughout the book. An excellent integration of science and music, Levitin’s book examines the brain’s role in listening to and processing music without downplaying any of the emotions we experience when listening to music. I enjoyed the book, particularly the science of the brain and its relation to music. ( )

Fascinating book. A must read for all music lovers and especially those who have had some musical training. You'll finally find out why songs get stuck in your head, or why some music brings tears to your eyes, or takes you back to another time and place in an instant. Lots of "aha" moments. ( )

fairly good book, explains some basics of music theory, can be repetitive if you already read the Oliver Sacks book on Music.

Levitin presents some interesting observations on the link between brain and music, but for my liking he spends too much time explaining introductory material. ( )

A good overview of some general mind concepts, applied to music. Also a good introduction to the structure of music. There are some great tidbits in the book, like needing 10,000 hours to be an expert at something, but overall the book wanders too much, especially into Levitin's personal history. I think the book could have been much shorter and more focused. The best concepts are pattern recognition, how we like/dislike complex music, music in evolution, and emotion. But overall it's hard to go back and bring out the best parts as the book isn't structured very well. Also, be prepared to try to remember/YouTube lots of classic rock, especially the Beatles, if you want to follow his references to songs. ( )

In this book, Levitin as musician cum record producer cum neuroscientist explores how we experience music -- how music affects our brains, and how this explains how music affects us. All in all, it's a fascinating and informative book, but on occasion Levitin spends more time discussing his own recent research and ideas than providing an overview of the topic. This is never more evident than in the final chapter, in which he attempts to address the evolutionary psychology of music; his own ideas here are rather poorly supported, and he discounts competing theories that are more plausible. Still, this book is well worth reading for anyone with an interest in the subject.

A really interesting and informative yet fun way of really explaining many details about music and why us as humans are so interested in it.

I recommend this book for anyone who has ever seen the connections between music and it's prevelance and need for it in our lives. i loved it ( )

Almost bought this book on Audible several times. Decided to download the sample chapters on the Kindle and try it out. It has the wrong mixture of scholarly book/popular book. Dense.Dry.Don't bother. ( )

this was highly enjoyable, mainly because the author has crossed over from the practical side of music (playing, recording, producing) to the theory of how we come to enjoy it (neuroscience). This gives him a rather unusual perspective, being a bridge between two quite distinct worlds. I was impressed by his almost encyclopaedic knowledge of music - both contemporary and classical more than by his knowledge of neuroscience. He rather over labours the cognitive model (the brain does computations, a la Pinker) even though that isn't one that accounts for the most experimental evidence - this is my main criticism of an otherwise excellent work. If only he could have a long chat with Walter Freeman and then bring out the second edition along with a website which hosts mp3s of the musical examples he cites! ( )

I’m not sure what this book is intended to be: a music-theory primer? a neuroscience report? a memoir? The opening two chapters provide an engaging overview of music theory: pitch, rhythm, tempo, timbre, meter, key, melody, harmony. (However, the material begs to be accompanied by a CD of the referenced music; I improvised by listening to the 30-second snippets on iTunes.)

Then the remaining 200 pages delve deep into the brain, though more in a science-report way than as a narrative with forward movement. Thirty pages of endnotes are appended for further exploration. Generally, it seems to take Levitin too long to relate the science to music, and worse, he segues into name-dropping and personal-experience material.

Very, very tedious to get through, though I'll keep the book for those opening chapters. ( )

A highly technical yet highly fascinating look at music, and how we process music in the brain. The first couple of chapters were admittedly rather dry, and filled with all sorts of music theory that I dodged as a child, but they lay the groundwork for subsequent chapters. Written not from a physiological point of view, but rather a psycho-neurological point of view, the book had some interesting insights. One of the more provocative ideas was that musical talent can be innate, but more often it is the product of copious practice - 10,000 hours worth, to be precise. I know some professional musicians who are sure to agree. Worth reading if you're interested in how the brain processes information, and preferably if you're a music lover as well. ( )

This book begins by addressing itself to the lay reader--and then some. The first three chapters are a review of basic music theory that will be incredibly boring to anyone already familiar with such concepts as how a musical scale is constructed. When Levitin progresses to more interesting neurological concepts, however, he sometimes fails to explicate his scientific terms in as much detail as he gave to music in the beginning. Sometimes the explanations come eventually, but not in the same chapter where difficult terms are first introduced. The writing style also has a way of making the reader feel that Levitin either does not know where to come down on certain positions, or is writing himself loopholes to avoid being accused of saying something wrong. For example, he asserts that talent is not innate, but developed by reaching a benchmark of 10,000 hours of practice. By the end of the chapter, however, he laments that most American conservatories do not teach artistic interpretation of music at all, and that talent is being operationalised in terms of solely technical competence, which is, perhaps, not the proper way to measure talent at all. Claims about the evolution of music and its association with desirable mating partners seem particularly spurious and poorly fleshed out. Other tantalizing claims listed on the back cover, such as the promise of uncovering why we seem to gravitate towards the music we listen to as teenagers, are offered little substantial elaboration within the actual text. There are a few interesting gems of information interspersed throughout the book, but they are lost within a writing style that wanders too much to make its claims seem solid and cohesive. I came away not feeling sure whether I should believe anything I had read. ( )

This book had the difficult task of addressing two subjects that are filled with jargon. I know music fairly well by now, so I know the difference between tone and timbre, between pitch and rhythm and musical line. On the other hand, I have a very basic understanding of neuroscience. Yes, I took a course in it including one on neuroethology which looked at songbirds neuro-patterns, but what I remember these days is is mostly just the basics. Levitin tries to give enough information for a true novice without boring the reader who is well-versed and he only succeeds to some extent. It's a difficult job, I'll give him that, but Stephen Hawking (or more precisely, his editor) did a better job of flitting from the basic to the esoteric, of changing levels often enough that you don't find yourself trapped in a chapter which is all below or all above your understanding.

Nonetheless there are many interesting points in this book. One that particularly sticks in my mind is that the timbre of an instrument (that quality that makes a clarinet and a flute sound different even if playing the note) is of course related to the design and material the instrument is made of, but it results in a different mix of overtones. For example, one instrument playing a C might have the third and the fifth prominent, while another the fourth. This alone makes instruments sound different enough that it was the basis of sound variations in the first synthesizers. Levitin definitely has a sound engineers mind, and he also has a broad array of knowledge about music. This allows him to draw examples from Bach to Led Zeppelin so any reader can pick out something with which they are familiar. The neuroscience was certainly beyond me at times, and I was frustrated that the author makes little difference between generally acknowledged studies and new studies which may or may not be accepted. Still, it was very interesting in parts and probably would appeal more to someone who knew both music and neuroscience equally well.

This book was interesting in places but suffered because it is written by a knowledgeable sound engineer and neuro-scientist -- not a writer. There are only rare instances where these two abilities are found in a single person, Oliver Sacks being the obvious one but there are a few others. I certainly appreciate Levitin's knowledge and it showed me a few things I didn't know, but I'll leave the science writing to more proven authors. ( )

Daniel Levitin is both a music professional and an academic, and this book is the perfect blend of his two careers. This is Your Brain on Music goes through many facets of how the brain processes music. This is a must read for anyone interested in why humans love music. Levitin covers music's emotional pull, physicality (why we dance), evolutionary role, and much much more. Levitin's own research has focused on how we remember pitch and tempo, and he shares his fascinating results and others throughout the book.

One thing to note: It is very hard to read this book without access to the musical examples he sites. Don't stray to far away from a well-stocked MP3 player or computer when you pick up this book. ( )

The interest that I held in This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession goes beyond the typical novel or non-fiction piece of work. When I picked it up at Barnes & Noble and read the inside flap, my hot damn! alert went off. When I read the Introduction, it may be safe to say that my heart palpitated. Since about the age of eight or so, I've been a music fan of abnormal proportions. Saying it was/is my "thing" is an understatement. I had over 2000 CDs until recently when I took them all digital and distributed the physical discs to friends, stores, and others. When I was teased with, "Levitin unravels the mystery of our perennial love affair with music", I was sold.

I'm pleased to say that This is Your Brain... far surpassed my expectations. It seemed that every page held something else for me to learn. I got a two chapter primer in music theory (so THAT'S how that works!). I got two or three chapters on the brain's reaction to music and how the two party together. This was followed by a chapter or two on what gives music the ability to trigger emotions. Finally, it closed with a chapter on music's role in human evolution.

Let's just say that if you love music, you should read the book. If you love science, you should read the book. If you love music and science, open another tab in your browser and order this thing NOW. As a fan of both, it hit the sweet spot for me.

Interestingly enough, it goes beyond just the music aspect though. In providing a context for most of the research that Levitin describes, he gives some other scientific tidbits that expanded my understanding of things such as the theory of evolution, the brain development of children, the evolution of dietary cravings, the adoption of spoken languages, etc. One such passage is, "Humans didn't evolve a liking for cheesecake, but we did evolve a liking for fats and sugars, which were in short supply during our evolutionary history. Humans evolved a neural mechanism that caused our reward centers to fire when eating sugars and fats because in the small quantities they were available, they were beneficial to our well being." While these passages weren't rocket science, when I came across them, I'd say - Now I know!

I'm a curious person who likes to make sense of things. It's fun for me to learn about how things became the way they are and how they tie together. When it comes to music and our connectedness to it, this book gets top marks. I have only one word for it - BRILLIANT.

It will be re-read on multiple occassions in the future. ( )

Musicians are constantly toying with us. They roll a melody up and down a musical rollercoaster. They take us on unexpected sidetracks. They bounce themes from one instrument to another like kids playing hackey sack. And sometimes they smuggle other tunes (themes or motifs) into their melodies to knock us off our guard. Somehow we keep up with their games, catching and interpreting hundreds of minor cues per second, and reconstruct their art as emotion. Joy. Sadness. Loss. Hope. Love.

Daniel Levitin carries on wonderful discussions like these in This is Your Brain on Music, a book I picked up because of the title but stuck with because of the subject. Levitin is a former studio musician and sound engineer who worked with many of the top pop acts of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, but followed an academic calling when a fascination for the complex interplay between sound and the human brain caught his attention. The result is a unique study of how the human brain reacts to music. And how cool is it that the same guy can tell you about a dinner he had with Francis Crick (the co-discoverer of DNA) in one chapter and about hanging out at home with Joni Mitchell (blues singer of “Both Sides Now”) in the next?

Not only do we remember the words and tune to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”, but we can automatically mimic the places his voice becomes gravelly. Why? What happens to the brain at 115 decibels that makes so many people prefer music cranked up to that volume? Why do so many people hate fingernails on a chalkboard? How on earth can we recognize a song like the Eagles’ “Hotel California” after listening to it for only a tenth of a second, or recorded by a dreary orchestra and played through a cheap elevator speaker? Why do some songs, rhythms, or instruments instill feelings in us so easily? How do they prompt memories? Why is music so enjoyable? And why do we get “ear worms” — 15 second song snippets that we can’t seem to get our minds to stop playing over and over? And over.

Levitin wrote his narrative in a way that respected both the music and the latest science research. He’s a musician, after all, with a deep appreciation for the art. And his neuroscience isn’t all mathematics. Music is filled with math and theory, but Levitin doesn’t dwell on it. He runs through a ‘Music Theory 101′ review in the first two chapters so you know what an octave is, the differences between pitch, tempo, and timbre, and what role chords play. It’s complicated in spots, but it’s just to get you up to speed so he could talk to you later using the right vocabulary.

Late in the book, Levitin delves into the invention of music and the evolution of the human brain. He went over my head several times, but whenever he started to lose me in brain/music jargon he pulled me right back with examples from songs everyone would know — ubiquitous songs from classic rock, country, jazz, or folk: Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven”, Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five”, Rogers & Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things”, Sting’s “Every Breath You Take”, the Beatles “Yesterday”.

Many of the songs he mentioned were already on my iPod. I listened to them anew with an ear out for the twists he suggested. I still felt the same emotion from the music, but the excursions into music theory and neuroscience added just a bit more depth to the experience. Music is a wonderful thing and the human brain is astounding. This was the first book I’ve read that covered both topics at the same time.

[More of my reviews are available at http://mostlynf.wordpress.com ]